Ornithology 3B Summary (Fall 2010)

If you miss a class, please check this page and study the listed topics in your field guide. For last year's calendar, click here.

Class notes by Elisabeth Koster are here.

Please register at eBird and email me your eBird ID. I can then offer to share field trip lists with you.

Click here for a summary of bird name changes from the 51st supplement.

We completed and reviewed the anhinga and cormorants on page 104. Click here for my photos and description of an Anhinga at Ramer Lake, California. Other California Anhinga photos are here. Click here for a diagram showing the annual cycle of breeding, molt, and migration of the Anhinga in North America. Thick lines indicate peak activity; thin lines, off-peak. Daigram taken from the Birds of North America account (Frederick, P. C., and D. Siegel-Causey. 2000. Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga). In The Birds of North America, No. 522 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.)

Click here for a photo of an adult Neotropic Cormorant at the Salton Sea and here for my description and photos of a Neotropic Cormorant and Fig Lagoon last month. My Neotropic Cormorant photos from Texas are here and here. Click here and here for my Great Cormorant photos from Australia.

This was the last class for the semester. Please preregister if you plan to enroll in the Spring. Click here for details. Thank you for your interest and support.

We completed and reviewed the gannet and pelicans on page 102. Click here for my photo of American White Pelicans in Texas and here for my photo from Palo Alto showing their "supplemental" plumage. Brown Pelican at sunset here. David Sibley discusses red pouches on Brown Pelicans.

We completed and reviewed the boobies on page 100.

Click here for a Red-footed Booby image. My Red-footed Booby photos from the Galapagos are here, here and here.

Click here for details and photo of an adult Brown Booby at Point Reyes, and here for details and photos of an immature Brown Booby at Princeton Harbor. A photo of an immature Brown Booby on San Clemente Island is here. Additional Brown Booby photos are here, here, here, here, here, here, here. here and here.

Photos of an immature Blue-footed Booby from Washington State are here. Additional Blue-footed Booby images are here, here, here, here and here. My Blue-footed Booby photos from the Galapagos are here, here, here and here, My video of Blue-footed Booby courtship is here.

Click here for details of a Masked Booby at Ano Nuevo, here for photos and notes on a Masked Booby at LaJolla and here for notes and photos of a Masked Booby at Dana Point. Photos of a Masked Booby at San Clemente Island are here and here. Photos of a Masked Booby at Point Mugu are here. Interesting photos of an immature Masked Booby off Long Beach are here. Additional Masked Booby photos are here, here, here, here and here.

A Nazca Booby photographed in San Diego is here. My Nazca Booby photos from the Galapagos are here, here, here, and here. (Note: Webshots censored my descriptions to remove references to "boobies."). Discussion and additional photos by Don Roberson here.

We completed and reviewed the frigatebirds and tropicbirds on page 98. My photo of an adult male Magnificent Frigatebird on the Galapagos is here. Click here for a photo and discussion of an immature Magnificent Frigatebird from La Jolla, California. An additional Magnificent Frigatebird photo is here. Click here and here for my photos of male and female Great Frigatebirds on the Galapagos along with notes on identification. Click here for a photo of a Red-billed Tropicbird in Monterey Bay. My photo of a nesting Red-billed Tropicbird in Tobago is here and chick is here. (Note: Webshots censored my descriptions to remove references to "boobies.")

We completed and reviewed the storm-petrels on pages 94-96. Click here for my photo of a stranded White-faced Storm-Petrel on board our boat in the Galapagos. Click here for a photo of Ashy Storm-Petrel at AT&T Park in San Francisco. My photos of Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels on the Galapagos are here. Compare with photos of an unaccepted Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel off Southern California here. A full analysis of this controversial record may be found here. See pages 22-23. A more recent and better documented, yet controversial record of Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel off Southern California is here.

Click here for a photo of a Ringed Storm-Petrel off California (1st for North America). Click here for photo of a Tristram's Storm-Petrel (1st for North America).

Information on dimethylsulfide which seabirds smell to locate food is here.

References:

Ainley, D. 2005. The dark storm-petrels in the eastern north Pacific. Birding 37:58-65 (PDF)
Howell, S.N.G., et al. 2009. Occurrence and identification of the Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) complex off southern California. North American Birds 63:540-549 (PDF)
Howell, S.N.G., et al. 2010. Occurrence and identification of the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma castro) complex off North Carolina. North American Birds 64:196-207 (PDF)

We completed and reviewed the shearwaters page 92. Click here for a flock of Buller's Shearwaters. Click here for a Streaked Shearwater in Monterey Bay; and here and here for a photos of a Streaked Shearwater off Fort Bragg. Click here for an account with comparative sketches of the first North American record.. Click here for a photo and discussion of a Black-vented Shearwater with a white vent.

References:

Howll, S.N.G., L.B. Spear, and P. Pyle. 1994. Identification of Manx-type shearwaters in the Eastern Pacific. Western Birds 25:169-177 (PDF)
Roberson, D., J. Morlan, and A. Small. 1977. A Streaked Shearwater in California. American Birds 31:1097-1098. (PDF)

We completed and reviewed the shearwaters page 90. Click here, here, here and here for photos of Wedge-tailed Shearwater in Monterey Bay. My photo of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater off Australia is here. Click here for photos of the first North American record of Bulwer's Petrel in Monterey Bay. Click here for photos of a Short-tailed Shearwater off Alaska. More Sooty/Short-tailed discussion here.

References:

Gillsan, G. 2008. Field Separation of Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters. Birding 40:34-40. (PDF)
Stallcup, R., J. Morlan, and D. Roberson. 1988. First record of the Wedge-tailed Shearwater in California. Western Birds 19:61-68 (PDF).

This was the last class for Part A. Please register for Part B as soon as possible if you have not already done so. Thank you for your support.

We completed and reviewed the petrels on page 86 and the shearwaters on page 88. Click here for my account with photos of a Bermuda Petrel off North Carolina. Click here for photos of Cory's Shearwater off Sonoma County. Click here and here for Great Shearwater photos off Monterey . Click here for a photo of a Manx Shearwater off Southern California. Additional photos of Manx Shearwaters on Monterey Bay are here, here, here and here.

Reference:
Heintzelman, D.S. 1961. Kermadec Petrel in Pennsylvania. Wilson Bulletin 73:262-267 (PDF)

Note: In class I mentioned that the ID of Heintzelman's bird was disputed, but I may have gotten the species wrong. Heintzelman insisted it was a Kermadec, while others thought dark morph Herald Petrel (Trinidade) was more likely and consistent with the photo. Unfortunately, the key pattern on the upperside of the wings is not visible in Heintzelman's photo and the original film which supposedly showed the upperwing has been lost. While Herald (Trinidade) is now known to occur regularly in the North Atalantic, Kermadec remains unrecorded anywhere in North American waters.

The name, Trinidade Petrel (which I may have used in class), is a name which has been applied o the Atlantic supbspecies of Herald Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana arminjoniana). The population in the Pacific, which has in the past been considered a separate species, is Herald Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana heraldica).

We completed and reviewed the petrels on pages 84. Click here, here and here for a photos of Hawaiian (Dark-rumped) Petrels off Clifornia. Click here for good photos of a Cook's Petrel off Southern California and here for a Cook's Petrel off Northern California.

Recommended Reference: Force, M.P., S.W.Webb, and S.N.G. Howell. 2007. Identification at sea of Hawaiian and Galapagos petrels. Western Birds 38:242-249 (PDF) & Photos.

We completed and reviewed the fulmar and petrels on page 82. Photo of nesting Northern Fulmar in Alaska is here and my photo of a Northern Fulmar off the Newport Pier is here. A possible Parkinson's Petrel (record not accepted by CBRC) from the Cordell Bank is here. A. Jaramillo's account and photos of the White-chinned Petrel off Half Moon Bay is here and J. Sterling's photos are here and here. My White-chinned Petrel photos from South Africa are here and here.

A Great-winged Petrel was well documented off Santa Cruz 18 September 2010. Photos: here, here and here. Click here, here and here for older photos of Great-winged Petrels off California. Click here for a photo of a Murphy's Petrel off Fort Bragg.

Recommended References:
Howell, S. N. G. 2006. Identification of "Black Petrels", Genus Procellaria. Birding 38:52-64 (PDF) & Supplement.
Bailey, S. F., P. Pyle, and L. B. Spear. 1989. Dark Pterodroma petrels in the North Pacific: identification, status, and North American occurrence. Am. Birds 43: 400-415 (PDF).

We  completed the albatrosses on pages 78-80 & 466-467. Short-tailed Albatross video is here and photos are here, here and here. Laysan Albatross photos are here, here and here. Shy Albatross photos are here, here, here and here. Here is my Shy (White-capped) Albatross off Australia and here is one off South Africa (see notes for specific ID). Click here for my Yellow-nosed Albatross photo off South Africa and here is my Yellow-nosed Albatross photo off Austraila. Here is my photo showing Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses off Australia and here is another Australia photo showing Yellow-nosed, Black-browed and Shy Albatrosses together. Here and here are my photos of Black-browed Albatross off South Africa. Flocks including Black-browed Albatross are here and here. Click here for my account of a Light-mantled Albatross off Northern California. My Wandering (Gibson's) Albatross photos from Australia are here, here (note Black-browed in background) and here.

Recommended References:
McKee, T. and P. Pyle. 2002. Plumage variation and hybridization in Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses (PDF)
Howell, S. N. G. 2009. Identification of immature Salvin’s, Chatham and Buller’s Albatrosses. Neotropical Birding 4:19-25 (PDF)